AllFreeNovel
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Well, one of us is.
She shook her head at how she and Meg had acted at lunch. They really had to get their shit together before the company was nothing but a “For sale!” sign that people ignored on the side of a road, long after the sale was over. It was a wonder Liam still wanted to fly back with them at all and wasn’t running the other way.
Callie slipped off her black folding ballet flats. She kept a pair in her purse for layovers to be comfortable in the cockpit. She reached for the hem of the dress and lifted and then she froze. Zipper, dammit. She could either ask Liam for help, or she could contort herself into a pretzel.
She slipped the zipper down as far as she could at her neck without making a yoga move she’d never recover from. Reaching to her back, she examined how far down he’d need to go so she could comfortably grab the zipper pull to finish the job. Farther than she’d hoped. He’d definitely be able to tell her underwear situation.
“Everything okay back there?” he asked.
She tried to bend differently, basically looking like she was being possessed by the devil or trapped in a straitjacket. Maybe she could dislocate her shoulder to get out of it. What was she thinking? Panic set in, and her brain went on a fear-based tangent. Often when it came to showering in public places, like swimming pools, or trying on clothes with friends in high school, she’d faked illnesses or other plans to get away and avoid undressing in front of someone. But now she was an adult, and it was just the two of them. She wasn’t sick. She wasn’t going to injure herself. She wanted the robe on. That was the goal.
The last few months flashed in her mind. She’d placed her life on hold. The enjoyment of a personal life ranked secondary to opening the company. Late night dinners with Meg, and early morning breakfasts with Meg, and hours spent with Meg and contracted companies to get everything just right. Callie wondered if they both needed to have a little more balance, a little more social life … a little less being alone.
“Liam, I need your help.”
He remained still. “Should I turn around or just back up with my eyes closed and I can help you?—”
She stepped forward, her hand pressing to his lower back and stopping his sentence. Muscles shimmied under his soft t-shirt. “I need you to help me with my zipper. I trust that you’re nothing less than a gentleman, you’ve shown me that.”
He slowly turned with his eyes closed and opened one cracked the width of a nickel. “You’re sure?”
A laugh rose from her belly, and she placed a hand on his chest. “Open up, buttercup.”
Those blue eyes held to hers and didn’t glance elsewhere. He inched closer until their bodies were pressed together.
She inhaled quickly as she could feel every taut muscle of his stomach pressing against her. Her head lightened. His arms came up and wrapped around her. She stiffened and instinctually sucked in a breath to make herself smaller.
“Don’t. Just breathe normally, I promise I can reach the zipper, Callie.” One of his hands held the two sides of fabric close together at her neck while the other tickled down her spine, tracing a path over her skin to where the zipper was. Callie moaned and craned her neck to look up at him. As his fingers worked the zipper, his gaze held to hers.
Her body responded, heating low and intense. A burn that she’d always crave; it would remind her of him. “Just don’t look down, please.”
“Your eyes are too beautiful to want to look anywhere else. I swear that brown doesn’t exist in nature. It was reserved for you, Callie.”
“Liam…” Her chest clenched under his.
“Breathe.”
The hand that had been on her neck slipped down her spine, tickling the skin, but holding the fabric in place, so it didn’t fall from her body. His fingertips skimmed her ass crack, and she couldn’t fight the moan that escaped her mouth.
“Callie.” Liam groaned her name as if he were tortured as much as she was. “Your eyes aren’t the only thing beautiful. I imagine you’re beautiful everywhere, but I promise I won’t look.”
She trusted he wouldn’t, but maybe it was better to give him a look and have him make up his mind knowing the reality than spending any more time not facing the truth. Her body wasn’t perfect, not that she wanted it to be. But past men had demanded it be. Trent had vigorously encouraged hours in the gym and daily meal delivery programs that had contributed to being healthy, but she’d learned healthy on the outside didn’t mean anything if the inside was convoluted sludge. And then after her father’s death, she’d slipped back into old habits and grief-eating until she’d gained back every pound she’d lost. She didn’t hate her curves; she didn’t want to be anyone else. If he didn’t accept her as she was, then that was his problem.
She pushed back from him, and he clamped his eyes shut.
“Please open your eyes, Liam.”
His eyes opened slowly as she knocked one strap of the dress off and then the second. The fabric dropped, pooling in a pile of pink and black at her feet. His gaze lowered slowly following the path of the dress.
“Fuck.” His mouth hung open, and his gaze lingered over her shape.
Her breath shook in and out, and she bit her lip. “You can go if you want to.” She closed her eyes. One of them shouldn’t be seeing this, and she didn’t think she could stand seeing his reaction and reconciling it with the trust she’d put in him.
A finger brushed over the curve of her breast, warm and soft. She sucked in a quick breath as it trailed up to her collarbone and down her arm.
“You’re even more beautiful than I imagined, and I have a great imagination.”
Her eyes popped open, and she searched his face for confirmation of what he’d said. “Really?”
